Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott became the first player to use Pride tape in a game since the NHL banned it in the offseason. The seven-year veteran had the rainbow tape on his stick during Saturday’s game against the Ducks, despite the fact that the NHL could punish him for doing so.
Dermott said he didn’t speak with anyone in the organization about his decision, choosing to use the tape on his own. On Tuesday, he explained why he chose to continue using Pride tape in spite of the league’s new rules.
“None of the players really saw me put it on my stick,” Dermott said, via The Athletic’s Chris Johnston. “It was kind of just an: ‘All right, I’m doing this, and we’re going to deal with the consequences and move forward, and hopefully I’ll have a positive impact on some people that needed that positive impact.’”
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Last year, several players chose not to participate in their team’s Pride Nights, and some teams altered their actions ahead of their Pride Night, which caused controversy within the league. The league ultimately chose to ban players from displaying “cause messaging,” including Pride-themed equipment, from tape to jerseys.
The veteran Dermott has turned into a journeyman in his career, currently on his third team in four years, but although he’s not a big name, he believes someone needed to keep supporting the LGBTQ community in the wake of the NHL’s offseason rule changes.
“It’s easy to forget that it’s a battle if it’s not in front of you,” Dermott said. “If you don’t see it every day, if it’s swept under the rug, if it’s just hidden from the naked eye, it’s easy to forget that there’s a group of people that don’t feel like they belong because the majority of people do feel like they belong. Once we stop thinking about that, I think that’s when it gets dangerous.”
Dermott added he was nervous leading up to the game, but he’s gotten nothing but support from his teammates and fans. While he understands why the NHL was turned off by last year’s backlash, Dermott still believes players need the ability to speak up.
“You can see it as the league’s taking away our voice,” Dermott said. “We can’t speak. We don’t have any of this expression anymore. I feel like that’s a valid way to think, and it’s easy to kind of see it that way. A lot of people do, and I’m sure will continue to.”
